Invest with us

If you’re an investor rather than an owner-occupier, we believe that you should have a close look at Leeds, where employment prospects and economic output are in very good shape.

Why Leeds?

In the last 20 years, more jobs have been created in Leeds (113,000) than in any other major city outside London (Leeds City Council)

Over the next ten years, the economy is forecast to grow by 21% with financial and business services set to generate over half of GVA growth over that period (Leeds City Council)

Leeds is a huge contributor to regional output and this trend is expected to continue into the future as it assumes the mantle of regional capital

Leeds College of Art was granted university status in 2017 which makes it the 4th university in the city

Leeds is home to two major teaching hospitals

Leeds is one of the most important financial centres outside London

Leeds has a rich cultural and creative heritage and is the only city outside London to have resident ballet, theatre and opera companies

Over the past 5 years, Leeds has enjoyed significant private sector investment with the opening of Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre and Leeds First Direct Arena (Leeds City Council)

£600m retail development ‘Victoria Gate’ also opened in 2016 and has since won Best Shopping Centre in the world at the MIPIM Awards 2017

Leeds Bradford is one of the country’s fastest growing airports with over 70 direct destinations and connections worldwide from Heathrow, Dublin and Amsterdam and hit a record 120,000 passengers in one week, last summer (Leeds Bradford Airport)

Leeds Train Station – Leeds train station is the third busiest British railway station outside of London, serving around 30 million passengers a year. It is also the largest station in England and outside of London in terms of platforms, with 11 terminus platforms and six through platforms.

Leeds City Council are working alongside Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership to deliver a brand new industrial space east of the city centre, which will create thousands of new jobs. (Leeds City Council)

Over the last decade, Leeds’ economic growth rate has risen to almost 40%, with a worth of around £18 billion (Leeds City Region)

Looking to invest in Leeds?

‘’There has been a marked increase in interest from both national and international investors for Leeds city centre residential property. Prices in Leeds look low when compared with other major UK regional cities such as Manchester and Birmingham as well as smaller local markets such as York and Harrogate.’’ JLL 2017.

Ready rented property

We manage a significant portfolio of apartments in the city centre, many of which we have looked after for over 10 years. As investors retire, or revise their strategies, we bring their property to the market with the benefit of a tenant in place. There are a number of benefits to buying a ‘ready-rented’ property’;

Quite often, the furniture will be sold as part of the package

The historic performance of the property is available for analysis which will show occupancy levels, rent growth, maintenance costs and arrears.

You will have rental income from day one of your purchase

The process of financing the purchase can be more straightforward if the rent is a matter of fact rather than conjecture

20-year track record of effective property management

We have a substantial team dedicated to the effective management of rent collection, tenancy admin and maintenance and we have 4 key areas of obsession;

Voids

We don’t ‘do’ empty property and work extremely hard through a process which starts 10 weeks ahead of tenancy expiry, to ensure that we are in control. Since 2007, we have managed to maintain an occupancy rate in our portfolio of over 99%

Rent level

We have a long-term commitment to the market and have felt for a long time that rent levels are not where they should be in a city of the scale and dynamism of Leeds. We work hard to ensure that rents are at a commensurate level and other agents follow our lead.

Arrears

We employ a firm but fair approach to rent collection- with the very rare exception of a property which is genuinely un-occupiable, there is no justifiable reason for the non-payment of rent.

As at November 2017, our arrears were at 0% of current rent roll and we generally maintain arrears at around 0.2%.

Maintenance costs

Unlike the vast majority of our competitors, we do not profit from maintenance either through mark-up or secret profit. We obsess about keeping maintenance costs as low as we can and even employ a handyman without minimum charge.

Our job is to minimise your costs and maximise your income.

Gateway East

The Gateway is a high quality mixed-use scheme comprising 4 residential buildings, a hotel and some commercial space. Clarence Dock, Brewery Wharf and the railway station are all within easy reach on foot.